Pixie Dust Never Lies
by brookeAp3
Summary: Robin may be an honorable man but he is in no way immune to the basic feeling of jealousy or to Regina. Upon seeing another man flirting with her he snaps, no longer able to pretend everything is alright. Done for Outlaw Queen Week!


_A/N: Ok, so here is my contribution to Outlaw Queen week. Basically the beginning part of this popped in my head and wouldn't leave so this is the result. I think it turned out pretty well though. This is also my first story for Once and I really hope I got the characterization right for both of them. Reviews make me happy! Enjoy! :)_

Robin felt his jaw tighten uncontrollably of it's own accord as he watched the bastards thumb move in circles over her hand resting on the counter top. It was a very subtle movement, not meant to be flashy or noticeable. Regina wasn't the type of person to allow open displays of affection in public. Nonetheless, it was driving Robin absolutely mad that he was touching any part of her. It was unacceptable.

Which of course was absolutely ridiculous because Robin was actually the one that was a bastard. He'd broken the woman's heart when his wife had suddenly and quite unexpectedly appeared from the dead, very much alive. It was like being sucker punched. Robin wasn't even sure he was exactly over the shock of the whole incident yet but he'd been trying. Desperately trying to give his wife the respect and attention she deserved. She had done nothing wrong in this situation after all, had been forcefully dragged through time to a place that was foreign and strange. There was no way that Robin could just abandon her to her own devices.

That didn't change the fact that he had spent years mourning her loss, struggling to find a way to piece the broken tatters of his world back together in her absence, for the sake of their beautiful son. Or that Robin had finally, after hundreds of lonely nights, found someone who he had been drawn to on every level. Someone who drove him absolutely mad with frustration and a yearning he never could have imagined. A stunning woman in every way.

A woman who was currently subtly flirting, tossing those shy and reserved smiles at a man he didn't know across Granny's. A fact he was desperately trying to ignore as he sat in a booth pretending to drink from the mug of coffee in front of him. Robin actually heard his teeth grind as the man lifted his other hand to Regina's shoulder and slid his fingers down the length of her arm.

That was it. He couldn't take it anymore.

Robin was out of his seat like a light and standing next to them within seconds. "Get your hands _off_ her." He demanded, his tone low and deadly, as he placed his hand on Regina's arm and pulled her slightly away from the man, closer to his own body.

Shock flickered over Regina's face for several seconds before she recovered and her eyes narrowed at the thief, replaced by anger and indignation. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she asked furiously.

Robin didn't respond to the question though, merely pulling her with him to the back of Granny's until they were back to the same spot where Henry had caught them making out like teenagers. He may have been seeing red from having to watch Regina flirt with another man but he knew her well enough to know that she would not want to have this confrontation in front of people.

"What in the world makes you think you have the right to – "

"I don't," Robin interrupted her mid sentence, "I have absolutely no right to anything but I couldn't sit there and watch someone else touch you. I can't do it, Regina." He confessed, sighing with the omission.

Regina just stared at him for a moment, taken aback by the nerve of that statement. "And you think it's a picnic for me to watch you with Marian? Believe me I could do without seeing you and your _wife_ around town, Robin." She huffed out, her annoyance growing as his proximity had her heartbreak resurfacing. It wasn't fair. The entire situation was completely unfair. Just once Regina wanted to be able to get her happy ending. But she would _not_ play the victim in this situation. Regina was stronger than that which was why she'd even been associating with the man, who was probably now very confused standing out in the diner, in the first place. She was not opposed to playing a game in order to present a front to the world around her. And the last think Regina could bear was people pitying her.

He hated it, hated that he was responsible for causing her this pain when all he had ever wanted, from the moment he had met her was to lessen it. To take away the hurt that only he seemed to see buried so deeply beneath the surface. All Robin wanted was to see that gorgeous smile grace her face every moment of the day.

It was wrong. Robin knew it was wrong even as he felt his body moving closer to hers, his hand lifting to brush his thumb across her cheek tenderly. Although he may have been an honorable man, by no means was he a saint. And Robin was quickly discovering that Regina was one of his biggest weaknesses, a far bigger temptation than he could have imagined. His breathing becoming more shallow as he took yet another step closer so their bodies were lightly brushing.

"I've been trying my best to stay away, Regina, but it's not working. You're all I can think about damn it and I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to fix this and no matter what I do someone is going to get hurt." Robin's face contorted into an expression laced with misery as he continued stroking her cheek. "Tell me what to do. Tell me what you need me to do, Regina." He pleaded with her.

Regina closed her eyes against Robin's words, choosing instead to focus on the sensation of his thumb on her cheek and his arm that had snaked around her waist to pull her to him. There was no way that she should be allowing this to happen right now but she was just as helpless to resist as Robin. For reasons she couldn't quite comprehend Robin brought out the vulnerable side of Regina, and she allowed him to see that fragile part of her that she guarded from the outside world like her life depended on it. That more than anything is what pulled the words she whispered next out of her. "I need you. I need you to choose me. I need you to want me. I need you to love me, to be my soulmate. But I don't get to want those things do I? That's not how this works because I don't get my happy ending."

Her words broke him, all of Robin's resolve shattering as his mouth found hers, their lips clinging to each other frantically as he pulled her even closer to him, his hand moving upward to run his fingers through Regina's dark locks. After several long and drawn out moments they broke apart briefly, each of them trying to catch their breathe as they continued to cling to each other. "Do you honestly think I don't want you Regina? That I'm not going mad with wanting for you? That every single night while Marian lies beside me I'm not wishing that it was you curled up next to me, my arms wrapped around you?" Robin proclaims, unable to pretend like everything is fine. He can't keep the pretenses up any longer and they are just going to have to deal with the consequences.

Robin backs her up slightly until her back is pressed against the wall as his body moves into hers, his hand running down her side as his lips find hers again, lightly sucking on her bottom lip and Regina moans into his mouth at the sensation. She's missed him desperately and it takes her a minute to come to her senses again while his forest scent is surrounding and overwhelming her senses. Her hand comes to rest lightly against his chest, applying just enough pressure that Robin leans back slightly.

There's a slight upward curve to his mouth as a hint of a smirk forms on his face as he gazes at her. And Regina can't help as her lips curve slowly upward, his grin contagious. "Robin…we can't be doing this. You have Marion – "

"And I don't want Marion the same way I once did," he interrupts her a second time. "I want _you_." He emphasizes his words with a kiss to her throat as he lightly sucks on her pulse point; Regina's head helplessly tilting to the side to allow him more access, completely unable to resist the physical pull between them. Robin's lips inch their way up until they lightly suck on Regina's ear lobe as he whispers into her ear "I love you, milady. I am _in_ love with _you_. And I will not stand by and let you slip through my grasp." Robin pulled back to look into Regina's eyes so she would know that he was being completely sincere. "I believe we missed our fate once before, Regina, and I am not going to let our second chance slip away. Right or wrong I don't care anymore. I need you. I want you in my life, in Roland's life."

She stands frozen, her dark gaze trapped with Robin's blue one as her back is pressed against the hard surface of the wall, unable to form a coherent thought for several seconds as her heart leaps wildly in her chest, almost painfully so. He loves her. Robin Hood has admitted that he is in love with her and the small part of Regina that has never truly been able to give up on hope is desperate to believe his words. What scares her most is that she actually does believe them; despite how quickly their relationship has developed their feelings are very real and more intense than anything she has ever experienced in her adult life. Before Robin Regina never thought that she would be able to truly love a man again, not after losing Daniel. The love she felt for her son was enough, more than enough. And yet Robin had come from as far out of left field as possible and here he was declaring that he loved her.

A single tear escaped, slowly rolling down her cheek as she continued to stare at Robin, that vulnerability surfacing again as she allowed him to swipe it away with his thumb. Regina closed her eyes for a moment, overwhelmed by the emotions coursing through her, before she smiled and took yet another leap of faith where this man was concerned. "I love you too." She whispered, almost inaudibly, but Robin heard her nonetheless and the grin that broke out across his face was bright enough to light up the world.

Their lips met once more in a soft embrace, the merging of their lips felt just as sensually as the merging of their souls. Neither could tell how long their kiss had lasted as they finally pulled apart, their foreheads resting against each other as they smiled at the other. It was as if the whole world had faded away outside of the feeling of being in one another's arms again.

Nothing had really been solved. They still had a million obstacles in their path but as they stood in that empty hallway in each other's embrace both Robin and Regina knew that they were exactly where they belonged. Pixie dust never lies after all and they are meant for each other, destined to be together, and that is all that truly matters.


End file.
